Netizens Defend VICTON’s Choi Byungchan After A Photo Of Him Flipping Off Surfaces

VICTON‘s Choi Byungchan gained attention after a post on an online community called it a “self-kill” when a photo of him in a photobooth surfaced on the internet. A user on Twitter had found the photo through Byungchan’s friends’ socials, where they had uploaded a photobooth print of their friend group. In the photo, Byungchan is seen flipping off, copying his friends’ poses.

Although it is a fairly common pose amongst the youth, the negative connotations that come with it still stick. Known to mean “f*ck you,” it is equivalent to a curse. Even so, netizens defended Byungchan, acknowledging that while the pose could be unsightly, it still does not compare to bigger scandals that other celebrities get in to.

• “Recently, it’s so hard to live as a male idol. Seeing how trivial things like this get posted, male idols also get hate just as much as female idols.”
• “It’s true that he was being careless with the middle finger, but this isn’t the same level as those scandals about bad personalities or crimes. It’s honestly too vague to call it a self-kill. I just hope he doesn’t do this again.”
• “Don’t write posts like this. He’s not cursing at fans, and he just threw up a finger in a leaked photo from his friends. It’s not some impressive self-kill LOL. Is it a crime?”

Others blamed his friends for not being mindful of the fact that Byungchan is an idol. 

• “Byungchan, you should stop being friends with them. The middle finger was cute, but leaking the picture was not. Makes me wonder if they’re really friends.”
• “When you turn around 30, then you’ll understand what was the issue with that. When you get older, you naturally don’t do that pose. I don’t get why he would take such photos that can create chance for scandals.”
• “You’re saying his friends uploaded that photo? That’s seriously crossing the line. They should’ve been careful as his friends, but they gave people ammo against him.”

Byungchan nor his company has given a statement on the matter so far.